Thorburn: Loss proves CU Buffs still have long way to go

DENVER -- Jack Graham had a $250 million smile on his face on Saturday evening.

Colorado State's athletic director and 18,000 of his green and gold clad friends were partying like it was 1999 at Sports Authority Field.

The Rocky Mountain Showdown -- which felt like it was on death's door when the Buffs were dominating in the second quarter -- is now alive and well thanks to CSU's 22-17 victory over Colorado.

The Rams aren't back. They're not going to win the Mountain West. Jim McElwain isn't the second coming of Sonny Lubick.

But college football is suddenly a lot more fun in Fort Collins right now than Boulder.

And perhaps the Rams' comeback is what Graham needed to get his fan base interested in a sagging program again and on board with his grandiose plans for a new on-campus stadium at CSU.

"We did not play a good football game by any stretch of the imagination," McElwain said after picking up his first win as a head coach at CU's great expense. "Plain and simple, we have a long way to go."

Not as far as the Buffs in the Pac-12.

CU still can't run the ball and didn't stop the run when it mattered most in the fourth quarter.

The good news is Jordan Webb is very tough. The bad news is the diminutive starting quarterback will have to be because he took a beating from a CSU defensive front that saw its most talented players booted off the team in the spring.

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Tyler McCulloch and Nelson Spruce are terrific possession receivers. The Buffs can only wonder what Paul Richardson would have been able to do down the field with that underneath help.

The CU defense appears to be much improved from last season. But the injury bug was not vaccinated during the offseason with Ray Polk and Greg Henderson already falling victims.

And the special teams gaffes are just as deflating now as they were during the Hawk-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named era.

Bowl game?

"I am still hoping for one. Why not?" Jon Embree said of his publicly stated mission for his second season leading CU. "Last year our goal was to win on the road. We have 11 games left and we have a lot of work. We have to keep pushing and striving and obtain that goal."

President Barack Obama might want to move today's speech from the Norlin Quad and do another one at CSU.

CU and winning don't appear in the same headline very often these days.

There are, of course, plenty of reasonable excuses.

Webb needs time to develop chemistry with the receivers. The secondary had to rely on three true freshmen after Polk and Henderson suffered ankle injuries. A total of 14 Buffs were playing in their first college game.

"We just have to get better mentally," said D.D. Goodson, who stood up and took responsibility for his costly muffed punt in the second quarter. "Get out all the jitters. And we had to execute more."

The Buffs are now going to have to win a game or two that they're not supposed to if they want a rematch with the Rams at the New Mexico Bowl.

Sacramento State, not CSU, will have to serve as the first sacrificial lamb.

"We have to go to work on Monday. Nobody is going to feel sorry for you," Embree said. "So we will look at (the film), we will be critical, coaches included. We have to get ready to play another game."

And more games in Denver.

Thanks to the Buffs' bumbling, rumbling and stumbling out of the gate, CSU's apathetic fan base has a year of bragging rights leading up to next year's Rocky Mountain Showdown.

The rivalry is back? Apparently so.

"As excited as I was for them, they have to realize we have a long, long way to go before I consider us a decent ball squad," McElwain said. "My hat is off to the guys we played. They played their tails off. That's what a rivalry should be.

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